Thousands Bid Aquino Farewell

Former Philippines President Corazon Aquino was laid to rest today next to her assassinated husband, after a funeral procession joined by hundreds of thousands. About 600 priests and nuns linked arms around the Aquino mausoleum at the Manila Memorial Park to keep back the crowd following the flatbed truck with her flag-draped coffin on its nine-hour journey through the rain-soaked streets of the capital.

Despite a patchy record during her 6 years in office, Aquino remained a beloved figure. "Nobody can replace her," said one real-estate agent.  "She taught us to pray and fight for our democracy." The long procession was clogged with Filipinos dressed in yellow—the signature color of Aquino's pro-democracy uprising—and flashing the movement's "L" sign, meaning "laban," or fight, in Filipino.
(More Corazon Aquino stories.)